


Of Friendship, Falls and Farewells

by goldenfur



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Community: 1sentence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-30
Updated: 2010-10-09
Packaged: 2017-10-15 06:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/157862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenfur/pseuds/goldenfur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two Renegades who share more than just a professional connection. One-sentence fics, Yuan/Botta.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gamma Set

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collection of one-sentence fics based on prompts from the LJ community 1sentence (theme set Gamma). These sentences can fall into pretty much any category, but romance and friendship are the most prevalent ones, of course. Expect spoilers and mentions of character death.

**01 – Ring**  
The ring Yuan wore was a symbol of love for another, but it had never even crossed Botta's mind that he could be offended by it.

 **02 – Hero**  
Yuan found it vaguely disturbing that he was still considered a hero by some when, to him, the real heroes were the likes of Botta and the other Renegades who risked their lives for a cause.

 **03 – Memory**  
The days of the Kharlan War were more than mere history to Yuan, they were memories – and Botta knew better than to disturb those.

 **04 – Box**  
When Yuan saw the small box containing all the personal belongings of the man who had been the Renegade second-in-command until recently, it took all his willpower not to rush to Derris-Kharlan and take out Yggdrasill with his bare hands then and there.

 **05 – Run**  
Yuan had the ability to send people running for the hills with a single glare, and there was only one Renegade who could weather out his wrath.

 **06 – Hurricane**  
Yuan's office looked like a hurricane had hit it, but when the Renegade in charge of cleaning it found certain misplaced garments, she only shook her head in amusement and thought that they could at least try to be a little less obvious about it.

 **07 – Wings**  
The only person worth being called angel didn't have white, feathery wings; his wings were sparkling and ethereal red in color, and for that reason they were all the more beautiful.

 **08 - Cold**  
Yuan wasn't half as cold on the inside as he would have wanted others to believe.

 **09 - Red**  
Yuan had always been fond of the color blue and, if asked, he would have associated death with red if he had to pick a color; he had to reconsider this when death suddenly came in the clearest blue of the oceans.

 **10 - Drink**  
The Renegades usually didn't get to drink much, but on those few occasions they did, Yuan usually stayed out of it and amused himself watching the others, discovering some carefully kept secrets along the way.

 **11 - Midnight**  
Because he didn't need to sleep, he sometimes forgot that others did; when he found his second-in-command asleep by his desk at midnight for the third time within a month he decided it might be a good thing to get a more or less regular schedule.

 **12 - Temptation**  
Giving up was a taboo subject in their conversation, because the temptation of doing just that was always lurking in their minds.

 **13 - View**  
The starry sky provided a romantic view to most; to them, it was a painful reminder of what it was that they were fighting against.

 **14 - Music**  
Yuan never was opposed to listening to music in general, but it would take a long time before he explained the odd look he got whenever he heard someone playing a flute.

 **15 - Silk**  
It was hard to understand why people would describe their lovers' hair as silky; theirs never was, especially not in the mornings.

 **16 - Cover**  
He understood perfectly well why he needed to keep his cover intact, but he couldn't help feeling frustrated every time the Renegades, with their second-in-command posing as the leader, went out to fight in the open risking their lives while he had to content himself working within shadows.

 **17 - Promise**  
He had taken the oath just like every other Renegade did, but he had also made a more personal promise to see to it that Martel would finally be allowed to rest and so, hopefully, Yuan himself could find the peace of mind he was missing.

 **18 - Dream**  
Some dreams and feelings, while mutual, were too dangerous to be acknowledged.

 **19 - Candle**  
No matter what was said about candles being romantic, they had unanimously agreed to toss them after Yuan's cape had caught fire.

 **20 - Talent**  
There were very few people who were capable of reading Yuan to any degree – it was almost unheard of that anyone could practically read his mind with such ease.

 **21 - Silence**  
The base was deathly silent to respect his privacy in the moment of grief, but no one seemed to realize that now, if ever, Yuan really could have used the distraction called routine.

 **22 - Journey**  
He was sick of journeying in hopes of finding things that never were there, especially since some things could be found just by stopping the frantic search and taking a good look at what there already was around him.

 **23 - Fire**  
It was rare of him to laugh, but the very first time he had seen his second-in-command (who usually only used earth-based spells) attempt a fire spell, he simply hadn't been able to hide his mirth.

 **24 - Strength**  
"There is no strength in numbers, have no such misconception", he had been told; he could only disagree when he saw what an organization like the Renegades was capable of achieving in the hands of a skilled leader.

 **25 - Mask**  
It was easy to hide behind a mask of cold indifference most of the time with most people, but Botta could chip away at the carefully sculpted wall far too easily for his liking.

 **26 - Ice**  
Walking around Flanoir without looking where to step was a mistake Yuan didn't plan on repeating anytime soon, if for no other reason but to spare his friend the trouble of hiding his amused expression.

 **27 - Fall**  
If he were to fall off a cliff, he would just use his wings - but how was he supposed to save himself when he discovered he was falling for his subordinate?

 **28 - Forgotten**  
To be forgotten was better than being scorned, but he would gladly have been remembered and scorned if that would have enabled him to keep his loved ones alive.

 **29 - Dance**  
Yuan certainly could dance - now; he only smirked at the awed looks he got and chose to say nothing about how many decades he had spent mastering the techniques.

 **30 - Body**  
For someone with such an ancient body, Yuan was amazingly flexible.

 **31 - Sacred**  
There were some rules and taboo topics to take into account when dealing with an ancient hero whose fiancée had become a goddess.

 **32 - Farewells**  
He was so sick of farewells, he thought as he laid a dark red rose on the water's surface in the still partially flooded ranch, but the worst part was that, yet again, he hadn't been able to say his goodbyes before it was too late.

 **33 - World**  
There was a world, not two, but one; the Renegades had succeeded, but his heart was heavy because one of the most valiant heroes who should have stood by his side never got to see their work pay off.

 **34 - Formal**  
It had all been quite formal in the beginning, to the point that Yuan had felt half-tempted to kiss his second-in-command just to see whether he would have a heart attack because of shock.

 **35 - Fever**  
They had had to argue for hours, and even then Yuan wouldn't have admitted to having caught a cold if Botta hadn't begun to show the exact same symptoms he had.

 **36 - Laugh**  
Botta had never anticipated to hear Yuan laugh out loud for the first time while they were in the middle of a _snow war_ , of all things, but he certainly didn't mind.

 **37 - Lies**  
"It'll be all right" was always a lie, because no one knew what future would bring - but when it was Botta who said it, it didn't ring false to his ears.

 **38 - Forever**  
The thought of living forever and ever was bad enough before; it got only worse when he found himself alone, without the support of the one he had come to rely on.

 **39 - Overwhelmed**  
Yuan had long thought he had no emotions left - he didn't know what to feel when he was proven otherwise.

 **40 - Whisper**  
There had been rumors about them going around both of the bases for a long time, and yet no one seemed to realize that their leader could hear all the whispers with ease.

 **41 - Wait**  
He was an impatient person, but sometimes it was a welcomed trait; for most people, life was too short to spend second-guessing and waiting for decisions that might never be made otherwise.

 **42 - Talk**  
After several decades of easy companionship, Yuan finally realized how little they spoke when something didn't concern a mission or a report and thought that the phrase "actions speak louder than words" had never fit better.

 **43 - Search**  
Everyone loved to search for things that may or may not affect their lives and never paid any attention to whether they were ready to find their answers; Yuan was genuinely surprised to discover he was no different when it came to certain matters.

 **44 - Hope**  
Hope was what fuelled their actions and kept them sane, and that was why they held it more precious than their own lives.

 **45 - Eclipse**  
When the sun was eclipsed by the horrendous sight of Derris-Kharlan looming in the sky, Yuan thought it was fitting considering all the things that had happened, leaving several people dead and countless other people, himself included, suffering.

 **46 - Gravity**  
When asked about his new selection of bruises and cuts, Yuan had given him a dark look, avoided the question and stalked away, all the while muttering about a room with no gravity and how exactly could it be possible for such a place to exist where not even wings were enough to keep him from crashing headlong into a wall.

 **47 - Highway**  
Sometimes Yuan had to wonder if the corridor along which his office was located had become a Renegade highway, because it seemed there were always a bunch of curious underlings hanging about whenever he had a meeting with Botta.

 **48 - Unknown**  
Yuan didn't always seem to think all his plans through and certainly couldn't predict the outcome of all his actions, but Botta knew that whatever it was that he would come up with would usually turn out well, and that was good enough for him.

 **49 - Lock**  
Locks were a handy invention and usually kept most curious people from meddling in their affairs – and if that failed, an Indignation spell was always another good way to make sure they weren't disturbed.

 **50 - Breathe**  
He didn't appear any different after the news was broken to him; only a careful observer could have noticed he had quit breathing the second he heard what had happened at the ranch.


	2. The Rest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter was written using the Gamma Set prompts from the LJ community 1sentence. The sentences collected in this chapter are from across the other sets. The letter before the prompt number specifies which set the prompt is from (A = Alpha, B = Beta, D = Delta, E= Epsilon).

**A17 – Tears**  
Tears weren't prohibited, but neither of the leaders had time to be crying even when they lost someone important and dear to them; Yuan convinced himself he had no time to waste on tears even after Botta was gone.

 **A19 – Wind**  
The wind on the top of the Fooji Mountains tore at Yuan's long hair, whipping stray strands about, giving Botta a strange wish to braid his superior's hair to stop the breeze from blowing it around in such a way.

 **A26 – Forever**  
For most people, "forever" was a figurative phrase – Yuan was, sadly, one of those to whom it was a harsh reality to see forever and be unable to affect the lives and, more importantly, lifespans of others as much as he would have liked.

 **A32 – Confusion**  
For someone who was otherwise so knowledgeable, Yuan sure often seemed to be confused about something so trivial as the everyday needs of his troops, for which Botta had more than once had to cover.

 **A33 – Fear**  
Once upon a time, Botta had had a mild fear of heights – nowadays it wasn't quite so mild, and he blamed Yuan's reckless behavior for it.

 **A39 - Smile**  
Yuan didn't smile much and Botta didn't show any emotions in general – when they happened to smile genuinely at each other for the first time, it was pure coincidence, but it was all right – after all, it was their secret.

 **A40 – Innocence**  
They were no poster boys for the boy scouts – there was nothing innocent in either of them, be it related to their military work or what was happening inside the walls of their bedrooms.

 **A48 – Waves**  
Yuan stood ankle-deep in the water in Altamira and stared out towards the horizon, breathing in rhythm with the waves, trying to fight off the nausea caused by the knowledge that this ocean water was now mixed with that of Sylvarant's… that of the ocean which had become his friend's grave.

 

 **B01 – Walking**  
No one seemed to believe it when Botta said he had seen Yuan walking on water; of course, he always failed to mention the seraph had been using his wings to not sink into the cold depths of the ocean.

 **B04 – Wonder**  
There were many wonders in the world, and Yuan was the source of several things Botta had been wondering about lately.

 **B05 – Worry**  
Yuan wasn't one to show his feelings, but he couldn't deny he sometimes worried when Botta went off on yet another crazy mission.

 **B06 – Whimsy**  
Yuan was a whimsy person and could change his mind in an instant, which made it difficult to deal with him, but Botta was so used to it he hardly paid any attention to it.

 **B13 – Bias**  
When Yuan had said he sometimes felt like Botta was the only Renegade who had half a brain on him, the younger half-elf had brushed the comment off by saying that Yuan was biased and that he wasn't giving the others a chance to prove themselves.

 **B14 – Burning**  
If there had been a flame of hatred and resentment towards Yggdrasill in Yuan's heart before, the intensity of that flame had become scorching after what happened at Rodyle's ranch.

 **B15 – Breathing**  
Not all Renegades knew Yuan was an angel; even Botta had been disturbed when he had first discovered that Yuan wasn't, in fact, breathing at all.

 **B22 - Quirks**  
Yuan wasn't the only one with quirks around the base, but Botta was subtle about his; Yuan derived endless, good-humored amusement from discovering the more personal side of his second-in-command.

 **B26 – Jump**  
Yuan knew it was time to lay off the Renegades' access to alcohol after one decidedly drunken officer had come to him at a celebration to ask whether Botta had yet "jumped his bones", as he so eloquently said.

 **B27 – Jester**  
It was a ridiculous idea passed out by the Renegades' very own jester, a man with a tongue even more acerbic than Yuan's, and it was a given that no one would have taken it seriously if the subjects, the very leaders of the organization, hadn't practically pleaded guilty with their behavior.

 **B29 – Jewel**  
Yuan's Cruxis Crystal was a relic of ages long past; when it had occurred to Botta that the soul trapped within that crystal had to be several millennia old and he had asked Yuan about it, the angel had become withdrawn and said that some things were better not thought about.

 **B39 – Share**  
In retrospect, Botta thought he should have expected something like it, but he hadn't really thought that Yuan would hog all the covers to himself when they were sharing a bed, even if he was asleep.

 **B44 – Near**  
It was common knowledge among the Renegades that Yuan didn't allow anyone to get too near; it wasn't all that surprising that word got out like wildfire when someone actually spotted Botta leaning over his superior's shoulder to point out something on a file Yuan was holding, much to the leaders' chagrin.

 **B47 – Valiant**  
Yuan had long ago deemed Botta one of the most valiant people he had come across in the several millennia he had lived, but sometimes he couldn't help wondering if the man had a suicidal streak for all the crazy stunts he pulled off from time to time.

 

 **D01 – Air**  
As the rapidly increasing water consumed the last pockets of air and the last semblance of hope of rescue was lost, the only thing Botta found himself regretting was that he wouldn't be able to tell Yuan of their success personally.

 **D05 – Coffee**  
Botta preferred coffee to tea; when Yuan had one early morning asked him why, he had – disheveled and still half-asleep – hardly been able to convey the thought that, well, Yuan wasn't the one who was seriously in need of a caffeine boost in the mornings … especially after such taxing nights.

 **D07 – Despair**  
Yuan had long fought the desire to give in to despair, but after what had happened at the Remote Island Human Ranch, he found it even harder to believe in future; he didn't understand the reasoning of his second-in-command that had led to such a tragedy.

 **D13 – Fall**  
They were trying to be discreet, but it didn't exactly help that they always seemed to cause something or other to fall over when things really got interesting.

 **D16 – Flying**  
Most children and even some adults longed to be able to fly once in their lives; Yuan didn't understand the appeal because to him it was nothing special – he was amused to note that even among the Renegades Botta was one of the few who shared his lack of enthusiasm for soaring the skies.

 **D26 – Lost**  
On the ground, Yuan had no sense of direction at all, so when he grudgingly admitted that they were lost while they were trekking through the forests surrounding Lake Umacy, Botta couldn't exactly say he was surprised.

 **D29 – Old**  
When Yuan had first asked Botta how old he thought he was, he had said that the answer he had been given – five hundred years – made him feel old; Botta had given him a decisively strange look after he had admitted he was much closer to being five thousand years old.

 **D36 – Secret**  
Yuan wasn't the only one with secrets in the base; Botta had one he had decided to keep to himself – it wouldn't have brought about anything good if he were to confess the feelings of attraction he had developed for his superior.

 **D44 – Taboo**  
It was very rare Yuan would talk about Martel more than in passing and it was a taboo topic, even among the two of them – for a good reason.

 **D45 – Ugly**  
There were times when Yuan wanted to keep his distance; Botta could appreciate his feelings when he caught sight of the fresh, ugly marks crisscrossing over Yuan's back once after the seraph had come back from Cruxis.

 **D49 – Winter**  
Botta rather liked the cold climate of the Flanoir region to Yuan's endless astonishment; it reminded him of the winters of his old hometown.

 **D50 – Wood**  
It was a good thing the desks of the highest-ranking Renegades were made of sturdy wood... otherwise, they would have collapsed a long time ago.

 

 **E01 – Motion**  
The wheels had been set in motion, but no one had expected to see so many of their own people crushed under them, much less that someone of such high standing among the Renegades would willingly jump in the fray to face certain death.

 **E04 – Last**  
This was it, Botta mused wearily as he tried to decode the mix of elven, angelic and common languages on the papers, this was the last time he would take written orders from Yuan before he had seen them to make sure he could actually _understand_ half of them.

 **E08 – Thousand**  
Thousands of years' worth of suffering were bound to make one jaded; Botta realized this and accepted that he could never hope to completely mend Yuan's soul, but he was determined to try and ease his pain while he could.

 **E13 – Change**  
Yuan would claim he hadn't changed in centuries, but Botta knew that wasn't true – he had witnessed the gradual change in him first-hand.

 **E14 – Command**  
While they were on duty, the chain of command was crystal clear – off-duty each would have to earn the right to be on top.

 **E23 – Child**  
When Yuan had asked Botta whether it bothered him that he could never have a wife and children of his own, he had said he was glad to give both of those up for all the other families he could save from peril by working as a Renegade.

 **E24 – Now**  
They had learned to live in the moment a long time ago; it was a necessity in their line of work.

 **E25 – Shadow**  
There were some absurd legends about Yuan floating around the base; the one that stuck in Botta's mind most was the claim that Yuan had no shadow, and he felt somewhat stupid and distinctly relieved to realize it wasn't true.

 **E26 – Goodbye**  
Many close calls, many last-minute escapes… they had grown tired of saying goodbye every time they took on a mission, but it didn't ease Yuan's mind when he knew there had been no goodbye this final time.

 **E27 – Hide**  
Playing hide-and-seek didn't exactly seem like the sort of thing grown men would do, but sometimes Yuan deliberately seemed to try and find a place within either base where no one but Botta could think of to find him.

 **E40 – History**  
It was a strange and horrifying thing to learn about history from someone who had first-hand experience of the events described; even more so when the events concerned the end of the Kharlan War and the death of a loved one who later would become a worshipped entity.

 **E43 – God**  
She was no goddess, not the way the Church depicted her, but it was easy to understand why even Yuan would sometimes act like she was.


End file.
